Dual Meet Hall of Fame: Randy Matson

The next athlete honored in the spring 2013 class of my Dual Meet Hall of Fame is James Randal “Randy” Matson.

Matson was the greatest collegiate thrower of all time. He lost just once in his entire college career at Texas A&M, setting collegiate and world records along the way.

In dual meet competition, he was unworldly. He broke the dual meet record in his very first collegiate shot put competition and broke it four more times in his three years of eligibility (and broke the discus record twice). Of course, going into that first collegiate meet, he was already the Olympic silver medalist.

He finished off his dual meet career with a world record 71′ 5½” throw (21.78 meters). Forty-six years later, it still stands as the dual meet record. Matson owns four of the top ten marks in dual meet history, and ranks #3 in the discus.

In later years, he continued to work with his alma mater in fund-raising and promotional roles, but has now retired.